Comfort
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: Sequel to 'Cuddles'. Tony's plan for revenge backfires when he discovers that there's nothing more comforting than simply enjoying the feel of his wife. Major fluff-stuff happening here people!


Pepper Stark was his security blanket.

He didn't feel at all bad about likening his wife to something a child carried around for comfort because there was simply no other phrase that suffice to describe what she was to him. Like this morning, for instance. There she is. All cozy and warm, tucked under the dark silk of their bed-sheets with a halo of red curls shimmering in the early morning light. She was usually on her side or - in the likelier case - tucked into his side. He couldn't resist the temptation of something he knew was always so warm and inviting. Which was why when he gently slid his hand underneath her shirt - his, really - he took his time, reveling in the feel of the soft as silk skin underneath his hand. He wasn't even going to force himself to feel bad about this.

He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her shorts and rubbed gentle circles on the smooth skin of her hip. He couldn't help but marvel at the feel of her silky skin beneath his calloused fingertips. He moved his hand up, flattening his palm into the tender contours of her side. The warmth of her skin had always been a comfort to him and now was no different. He drifted up the curvature of her ribs, letting his fingers trace just under her breast and down into the delicate concave of her flat, toned stomach where he encountered taut flesh, silky and toned. He let his eyes trace the curve of her neck down to the slope of her collarbone and the pale valley between her breasts. His hand slid over to her hip, curling around it and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

It doesn't feel at all sexual, what he's doing. He doesn't feel the need to be on top of her. He doesn't feel the need to take her clothes off. There was none of that. It wasn't even about revenge anymore. This had turned into a simple matter of him discovering the comforting pleasure of his wife's warmth. In every beautiful slope, valley and curve that her body had to offer. He let his eyes drink in the pure serenity of her face. In the way, her lips turned up in the slightest of smiles and how her eyelashes formed auburn crescents against her beautiful high cheekbones. In the way her hair formed a beautiful shimmering halo around her head and how she softened when she was asleep. The sharp business-woman was so soft and infinitely more beautiful when she slid into one of his t-shirts and a pair of old track shorts and slipped between the sheets to curl into her husband.

Acutely aware of the arm still tucked beneath him, that is now tingling, he made quick work of hefting himself up and angling down toward his wife. He pressed a line of tender kisses down her collarbone and along the curve of her neck, lingering at her pulse-point. The still warmth of his wife made him feel more at home than anything ever had. He shifted his body so that his weight is just barely on top of her. The way she smelled was intoxicating. The lingering scent of his own shampoo and soap from her use of it the night before mixed deliciously with a softer scent, something warmer and sweeter that was just so entirely Pepper drew him in and he found himself nuzzling at her, dragging his face along her neck and reveling in the scent of her. Yes, she smelled of him but that's not what it was. It was just simply her.

"Hmmm." Pepper's raspy moan broke the still silence of the morning, "Good morning, Darling."

"Good morning," Tony rasped into her neck, content to keep his face nuzzled into the silky flesh he found there. He pressed a constellation of tender kisses into her neck and strung them down to her shoulder, nibbling and clustering kisses down her collarbone. He isn't quite sure why it felt so good to just kiss her but it did. He traced a swirl of kisses in the hollow of her throat and dipped down into the collar of her shirt.

"Not that I mind this," Pepper sighed quite happily, slipping her hands into his messy hair. "But what may I ask brought this on?"

"Well it started out as revenge for a couple of weeks ago when you felt me up," Tony laughed, raising his head from her neck. "But when I realized how beautiful, no, not sexy, I mean you are that too but this morning I realized how far beyond sexy you go. You're gorgeous, Pepper and I couldn't resist the temptation of just enjoying you."

"Enjoying me?" Pepper raised an eyebrow skeptically, although she couldn't say that she wasn't touched by his words and the way he had spoken them with such reverence and tenderness.

"Enjoying you," Tony nodded his head in confirmation, kissing her nose - if only to watch it scrunch adorably. He dragged his mouth slowly along her cheekbone, emphasizing his next words with a sweet kiss. "You are so utterly beautiful."

"Tony - "

"Shush." Tony shushed her, kissing the shell of her ear and moving back up to her temple. "Even right now in one of my shirts and morning breath."

Pepper could only sink her hands further into his hair, tugging on it encouragingly. Her husband knew exactly what to do to render her helpless and speechless. Any other time, she would absolutely hate feeling this way - Pepper was a woman who liked to be in full control of all of her faculties - but Tony made it so very, very good. She reveled in the heavy warmth of her husband's body hovering above hers and the spicy cologne that lingered on his skin, mixing deliciously with the clean freshness of his shampoo.

"And your revenge plot?" She managed to ask him.

"Forgotten." Tony shrugged, looking up at her with a wolfish grin. "I understand why you called it cuddling."

"What do you mean?" Pepper asked him, her hands stilling in his hair.

"Well, while you were asleep and I was enjoying you, I realized that I am attracted to you sexually but," Tony paused and let his hand slip under her shirt, sliding along her hip-bone and up toward her rib. "When I did this, it was comforting. It was like having a security blanket. I could touch you and take comfort in you just because you're you. I could take comfort in you, Pepper. Not sexually, although there has been plenty of that, but in a different way. It's like touching you reassures me that you're still here."

"Because I am, Tony," Pepper smiled gently, brushing her thumb along his cheekbone, under his eye. "and, darling, I do hope you love me because I'm not going anywhere."

The change in Tony's eyes was what always struck Pepper the most. Just hearing her say I love you seemed to bring out a different side of Tony. His eyes softened, a gentle tenderness shimmering in the melted chocolate depths. It wasn't ardent, although he could be that too, it was something softer. It was something that couldn't be described. It was just something about Tony that always revealed itself whenever he was reassured that she loved him.

"I love you," Tony nodded, unable to help the tears filling his eyes. "I love you so much."

"Good," Pepper gently wiped his eyes. "No tears, darling."

The wolfish grin returned in all of it's glory and with a daring twinkle in his eye, Tony asked her the question that had obviously been on the tip of his tongue. "You wanna cuddle?"

"I'll show you cuddle!" Pepper retorted, digging her fingers into his ribs.

She had never heard anyone, much less Tony, explode with such joyous laughter but considering everything that they had been through together, she reveled in the sound. It was good to see him happy. If anyone deserved true happiness, it was her husband. She rolled them over, pinning Tony to the mattress as she continued her merciless tickle attack. She enjoyed the adorable way he turned his head away when he laughed and the hot blush that lit up his cheeks.

Tony finally understood Pepper and was, for the first time in a long time, truly happy with life. The love of his life was right there with him and the reassurance that she always would be lingered in the back of his mind. He had long ago accepted the fact that he would never need anyone but Pepper and that, well that made him a happy man.

And so, the great cuddling debate was finally settled.

* * *

**Hahahaha! SEQUEL DONE! To PhoenixFeather0198, I do hope you love this, darling. Anyway, not much to say. Leave me some love, dolls. **

**Love ya, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove**


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